Good morning! It’s Wednesday, October 16, 2024, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.
1st Gear: Congress Needs To Be Convinced On Autonomous Taxis
The world watched with mild interest as Tesla boss Elon Musk unveiled his vision for our autonomous future at a glitzy event in Los Angeles last week. The launch included the unveiling of an autonomous bus, called the Robovan, and a self-driving taxi that Tesla calls the Cybercab. The company hopes to roll out a swarm of these autonomous vehicles before 2027, says Musk, but Tesla has a few hurdles to overcome before then.
Firstly, the company will have to fine-tune its Full Self-Driving tech, which it says will form the backbone of the new Cybercab and, secondly, it’s going to have to convince Congress to change its tune on autonomous taxi rollouts, reports Bloomberg. Lawmakers in the U.S. currently have strict restrictions in place controlling the mass production of autonomous vehicles which could get in the way of Musk’s best-selling ambitions for the Cybercab:
“Unless Congress increases this limit, as several failed bills would have done, exemptions aren’t a viable route for a mass manufacturer,” said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor and autonomous vehicle expert.
Regulatory hurdles were one of multiple issues Musk sidestepped during his much-anticipated unveiling of the robotaxi, billed as a pillar of the Tesla chief executive officer’s push into robotics and artificial intelligence.
NHTSA has long permitted manufacturers to deploy 2,500 vehicles per year under a granted exemption, a tiny total for a company that sold nearly half a million cars last quarter alone. Such a low number also contrasts with what Musk told investors last week, when he said Tesla would “make this vehicle in very-high volume.”
Unsurprisingly, Musk didn’t touch on the restrictions enforced by Congress during his presentation at the We, Robot event last week. Musk also didn’t explain how his company will make the jump from offering driver assistance tech to shipping full self-driving cars.
The vague timeline for the rollout of the Cybercab includes production from 2026 and the cars should start shipping out to buyers by 2027, Musk claimed during the presentation. However, as he’s been promising self-driving taxis from Tesla for more than 10 years now, still hasn’t launched the long-overdue Tesla Roadster and took years to finally deliver the first Cybertruck, we won’t hold our breath on this timeline being met.
2nd Gear: Elon Musk Is Hopping On The Trump Campaign Train
In order to meet his targets at Tesla, big boss Musk is going to need laser focus on the EV maker and will have to make sure he doesn’t get distracted by anything else that could throw him off course. That’s not what Musk is doing, and instead the billionaire is going out on the campaign trail with presidential hopeful Donald Trump this week to try and drum up support for the convicted felon.
After throwing his weight behind Trump’s campaign for reelection, Musk has confirmed that he’s planning a week of events to try and sway undecided voters, reports Reuters. The events will run across Pennsylvania, which is proving to be a key state in the race for the White House:
Elon Musk said he will give “a series of talks from tomorrow night through Monday” in Pennsylvania, less than two weeks after the billionaire made a high-profile appearance with former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump there.
Earlier last week, a source told Reuters that Musk plans more campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania and his appearances would be connected to his America PAC political action committee.
Pennsylvania is considered a crucial state for both Trump and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the race for the Nov. 5 election.
The Tesla boss threw his support behind the Trump campaign earlier this year after months of speculation about his relationship with the ex-president. Shortly after pledging allegiance to Trump, the former “Home Alone 2” actor announced that there could be a job at the White House for Musk should he win reelection in 19 days.
The tie up seems a bit odd on the surface, given Trump’s repeated attacks on electric vehicles. Musk’s support seems to be swaying him, though, with Trump announcing that he’s a fan of the Cybertruck shortly after Musk donated to the campaign. Funny, that.
3rd Gear: Tesla’s Germany Expansion Given Green Light
In the final bit of Tesla news for today, we’re jetting across the Atlantic to check on the automaker’s German plant, which has just been given the green light to expand. The facility, which has been hit with countless protests this year, will now be able to expand its output as part of its mission to double capacity, reports Reuters.
Tesla is campaigning to double output from the facility in Germany, which currently assembles around 250,000 cars per year. The expansion of the site has been approved by a panel in Germany, allowing Tesla to proceed with the first of three stages of expansion:
The approval granted permission for the carmaker to proceed with the first of three stages of the expansion, including construction of infrastructure for storage facilities, a battery cell test laboratory, and logistics areas.
All the approved construction would take place on land already owned by the company, the ministry said.
Tesla has faced fierce local resistance to its plans to increase the capacity of its plant, operational since 2022, from 500,000 vehicles per year to 1 million, which would make it the biggest car plant in the country – topping Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters.
Activists have repeatedly made their disdain for Tesla’s German factory and its expansion plain to see. Protesters stormed the site back in May, and environmental protesters have camped out at the site on the outskirts of Berlin for months now.
People against the site’s expansion also voted to protect more than a million trees that would need to be cut down to expand the site in a vote earlier this year. That vote was not binding, however, meaning that Tesla can still plow ahead in spite of the move.
There may be some cause for celebration among the site’s opponents, however, as despite gaining approval for the expansion, Tesla isn’t jumping at the opportunity to build. Instead, Reuters adds that Tesla will wait for stability in the EV market before commencing any expansion plans in Germany.
4th Gear: NHTSA Launches Probe Into More Ford Rear View Cameras
And now for a car that I thought only existed in the world of “New Girl” until I moved to the U.S,: the Ford Flex. The weird, stretched out SUV is facing a probe from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration more than five years after it went out of production due to faulty rear view cameras.
The Ford Flex was produced by the Blue Oval between 2009 and 2019, with Ford ultimately shifting around 300,000 of the things. Now, the NHTSA has launched a probe into the SUV after owners reported issues with their rear view cameras, explains Automotive News. The probe impacts 2019 Ford Flexs:
The investigation follows 23 vehicle owner questionnaires that reported issues of blank, distorted or inverted rear view camera images when in reverse. An inverted or upside-down image can mislead drivers, creating safety risks.
The preliminary evaluation aims to determine the scope and severity of the potential problem and fully assess any associated safety concerns. Ford Motor Co. is not aware of any injuries or deaths related to the defect, according to a company spokesperson.
This is the third rear view camera issue that Ford has faced this year. In May 2024, Ford recalled more than 100,000 Lincoln Aviator models after the cameras were running into issues with interference from cellphones. Ford then recalled more than 144,000 Maverick pickups because the backup camera display could freeze.
If you are worried that your car might be affected by a recall, there are a few easy ways to check if it’s the case. First up, the NHTSA has a super handy app that you can use to see if your vehicle is impacted by a recall, or you can head to the regulator’s website and plug your VIN into its recall search tool.